Food for thought, prescription drug databases have been fodder for prosecution attorneys,but maybe not for long:

“In February, a U.S. court in Oregon ruled for the first time that federal agents need a warrant to search that state’s prescription-drug database. Last year, Rhode Island raised the barrier of entry to its database, and legislators in Florida and Pennsylvania are considering new limits on law-enforcement access to the records in those states

“The public and lawmakers are really starting to understand what kinds of threats to privacy come when we start centralizing great quantities of our sensitive personal information in giant electronic databases,” said Nathan Wessler, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented a group of patients and a physician who challenged the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Oregon case.

Law-enforcement officials say requiring a warrant to get the prescription records would undermine their efforts to curb the illegal flow of prescription pills, which feed what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified as an epidemic of drug abuse.

Currently, all but two states operate electronic databases of prescriptions for drugs, such as oxycodone, that have a high potential for abuse. Many of them also contain prescription records of less-potent drugs, according to the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, a congressionally funded group that generates draft statutes on drug policy.

In 17 states, authorities must get court approval before searching such databases, the drug-law group said. Other states grant access to investigators with few strings attached, with the exception of Vermont, where the system is closed to law-enforcement authorities.

While police generally need a warrant to secure medical records from a doctor’s office or hospital, courts are split over whether patients have an expectation of privacy in their prescription records. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to weigh in.”

What do you will happen?

Brook Butler, Esq.

Vero Beach criminal attorney, defense attorney, who to call when you get into trouble?